At this point, it's getting harder and harder for me to not want to just call this article Why You Should Be Reading Anything And Everything Scott Snyder Is, Has, Or Will Be Writing. But for the sake of validation under suspicion of extreme fanboy-ism, I'm working to stay sufficiently (or, at the very least arguably) objective.
Information Unload
Do more.
It's the battle cry of our generation. Millions and millions of tired, bloodshot eyes transfixed to an illuminated slideshow of pixels all vying for out attention in great, big colorful waves--and we're all basking in the glow of our displays. We've become accustomed to the concept of "agile business". Hours are more flexible. Job titles are less confined. When we're not working, we're scouring the internet for tips, techniques, and tools just to keep current.
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The Like Machine
The internet has found an incredibly effective form of digital nicotine: "Likes". It's bottled affirmation for the space age. "Likes" are almost a sort of currency on social media platforms. They validate our wit, work, or writing by essential saying "Go, you!" What's important to note is that these things aren't innately bad, by any means. Showing a form of appreciation for others' hard work isn't incriminating in and of itself, but the spiraling descent into "Like Lust" is anything but.
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Expand The Universe
When designers ask me what I recommend that they should be working on, I generally try not to be prescriptive. For one, I'm not you. For two, I don't really know what you're trying to achieve or, more importantly, what you really care about. I can only testify to what I did when I was beginning. And it's a practice I've since continued to this day and plan on keeping on keeping on.
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What to Read: East of West
It's the end of the world as we know it.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have returned to Earth.
Scratch that. Make that three. The fourth seems to have already gotten started.
That's what's happening in Jonathan Hickman's (Manhattan Projects) new monthly series, East of West. At 4 issues in, it's tale of an otherworldly Earth is as ambitious as it is intriguing. It's a big story with a big cast that is only slowly starting to piece together the events that catalyzed the End.
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Don't Believe the HYPErbole
Believe or not, design "trends" will come and go. Probably forever. No amount of bellyaching is going to change that. What you did in March might just go out in May. That next big thing you're working on that only you do might just make headlines in August and soon everyone could be taking a piece of that pie.
Read MoreThe Problem with Problem Solvers
Design solves problems.
Thus, as designers, we're little more than problem solvers.
I can't say I know where this sentiment comes from or have an exhaustive history of its use, but I've a sneaking suspicion that we're not the first to coin it.
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A Conquest of Disciplines
For a long time, I billed myself as an "Illustrator" and an illustrator only. Emerging from an editorial print background and wanting to generate some momentum, choosing a specific path to carve out my own personal brand seemed almost critical to success and honestly, the most manageable. Design is an ocean of people who can do this or that mostly all better than you can at the start. And while I'd attribute a lot of this refocusing to where I am today, it can also be the nail in the coffin of stagnation.
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iOS 7 And You
It’s no surprise to say that when Apple speaks, people listen. No less surprising, but almost always infinitely more predicable—people react. With the vigor and unbridled enthusiasm (thanks, Elaine) usually reserved for politics and conclusions to JJ Abrams’ television series, people have once again taken to their nearest social media outlet to curse in blood or defend tooth and nail a system that they’ve not yet used nor had the opportunity to interact with.
Read MoreNew Digs
So it finally happened. A new site. New place to call home. New coat of paint and other cliches of the like.
For a while I've wanted to find a better medium of not only displaying my work, but some of my thoughts along the way. A bit of the process behind why I make the decisions I do. Sure, you can do it as a big block of chunky text that sits on an external blog outside of your work, but without the content and the execution rubbing shoulders, it seems to be a pretty defunct way of displaying work.
Add to that the fact that, as an illustrator, I enjoy what I do, but have wanted to be able to more effectively communicate that illustration isn't all that I do. It's not.
So feel free to have a look around the new site. I'll be working out the kinks, adding more to it, and fine-tuning the experience as we go. I suppose it's lot like saying "take a ride on this plane and we'll work on fixing the engine once we're up in the air" but hey, why not?
Excuse the brevity of this post. I needed something for this place in the navigation.